1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a head repairing apparatus for repairing a liquid ejecting head of a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects liquid from a liquid ejecting nozzle provided on a head surface of the liquid ejecting head to an ejection object.
2. Related Art
In a known ink jet printer as an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, in order to always maintain a head surface of a recording head (a liquid ejecting head) in a favorable state, there is generally provided a head repairing apparatus for repairing the recording head between standby and recording implementation. As one of main functions of the head repairing apparatus, there is a function that seals the head surface of the recording head with a seal member during standby to prevent ink of an ink ejecting nozzle provided at the head surface from drying, thereby preventing a nozzle blockage or the like. Specifically, there is provided a mechanism which brings the seal member in close contact with the head surface of the recording head during standby to seal the head surface and separates the seal member from the head surface of the recording head during recording implementation.
In the head repairing apparatus of this configuration, there is a concern that, when separating the seal member from the head surface of the recording head, ink may be scattered, whereby the scattered ink may contaminate the inner part of the ink jet printer or the recording paper. The scattering of ink is generated due to the fact that, in the process of separating the seal member, which was brought into close-contact with the head surface of the recording head, from the seal member, a film of ink is generated between the head surface of the recording head and the seal member by the surface tension of ink, whereby, in the moment of the destruction of the film of ink, the ink forming the film is scattered.
As an example of the related art capable of reducing the scattering of the ink, for example, there is known a head repairing apparatus that brings the seal member into contact with the head surface of the recording head and separates the former from the latter in a tilted manner (JP-A-2007-283545).
According to the related art, when separating the seal member from the head surface of the recording head while tilting the seal member, ink between the head surface of the recording head and the seal member is moved to a direction of a narrower gap by the capillary phenomenon. That is, by separating the seal member from the head surface of the recording head while tilting the seal member with respect to the head surface of the recording head, it is possible to reduce an area where the film of ink is generated between the head surface of the recording head and the seal member. That is, it is possible to reduce the film of ink generated between the head surface of the recording head and the seal member. As a result, since the amount of ink, which is scattered when the film is destroyed, can be reduced, it is possible to reduce the scattering of ink generated when separating the seal member from the head surface of the recording head.
However, in the head repairing apparatus of the related art disclosed in JP-A-2007-283545, the seal member is supported by an elastic member in a rollable manner in a state of being tilted with respect to the head surface of the recording head. In addition, in order to bring the seal member into close-contact with the head surface of the recording head, firstly, the seal member is engaged with the recording head in the state of being tilted with respect to the head surface of the recording head. Next, the seal member is displaced while rolling by the principle of leverage around the engagement portion so that the seal member becomes parallel to the head surface of the recording head, whereby the seal member comes into close-contact with the head surface of the recording head.
That is, the head repairing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2007-283545 has a configuration that brings the seal member in the state of being tilted with respect to the head surface of the recording head into close-contact with the head surface of the recording head in parallel, while rolling the seal member by the principle of leverage around the engagement portion of the seal member and the recording head. For that reason, in the head repairing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2007-283545, it is difficult to perform the positioning of the seal member with respect to the recording head at a high accuracy when bringing the seal member into close-contact with the head surface of the liquid ejecting head. Thus, in the head repairing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2007-283545, a difference in close-contact position of the seal member with respect to the head surface of the recording head is easily generated, whereby there is a concern that a desired sealing capability cannot be obtained.